Friends and family members listened to prayers and poems. Two young girls flanked their mother in the shade of a tent as their father, Capt. Michael P. Cassidy, was remembered.
"I called him my gentle giant," Cassidy's widow, Johanna Cassidy, said. "He died doing what he loved. We were so proud of him."Cassidy and her daughters, Catherine, just turned 11, and Amber, 9, wept amidst hugs and words of condolence.
For more of this story see the print edition of Friday's Coastal Courier.